


A Twist in Every Story

by 23a



Series: A Flaw In Every Plan [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: American Character, Book 3: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Family Drama, Family Secrets, Female Friendship, Female Protagonist, Friendship, Gen, Harry Potter Has a Sibling, Light Angst, Male-Female Friendship, Mentor Remus Lupin, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, POV Original Character, POV Original Female Character, Professor Remus Lupin, Secret Identity, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-12
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2020-05-03 22:21:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 11,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19192867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/23a/pseuds/23a
Summary: Ariana made it through her first year of Hogwarts, none the wiser about being Harry Potter's sister or the danger she was in. But when Remus Lupin arrives at the school, the past might just come to light--for Harry, yes, but also for her. Second in a series.





	1. To London Again

Ariana Clark put her red hair up into a ponytail and smiled at the mirror. She was going back to school in two days. Now, most kids might not be excited about that, but Ariana most definitely was. Because a year ago, she had discovered she was a witch, and she had discovered a whole world of magic-not to mention her best friend, Ginny Weasley. Last year had been pretty bad, with Ginny possessed by an evil diary and petrifying their classmates. But that was fixed now, and Ariana knew that this year would be fantastic. The only thing was, the magic school she went to was in the UK, where Ariana had been born. And Ariana lived with her adopted family in America. Which meant that right now they were heading to the airport. It was 7:00pm, and their flight left at 9. That would bring them to London right around 9 am England time tomorrow, which would give them the day to spend shopping for Ariana's new school things in Diagon Alley. That was a secret wizarding street with wizarding shops hidden right in the middle of London! Is that cool, or what? Tomorrow was also Ariana's twelfth birthday, which was pretty cool. She was the youngest person in her entire year, since she was born the day before the start of term. She still didn't know who her birth parents were. They had died in October of 1981, shortly before her friend Harry Potter had defeated the greatest wizard of the age. Ariana suspected he or his followers had killed her parents, and she knew her adoptive parents knew something, but despite her pestering them all summer they hadn't spoken a word on the subject. That was quite annoying. But it was alright now; she'd be going back to Hogwarts, and surely once there she could find out.

"Ariana!" her mother called. "We have to leave for the airport!"

"Alright, coming mom!" she called. Her American accent had pretty much fully returned over the summer, meaning she'd be attracting odd looks at Hogwarts again. That was alright though; she'd pick up the British accent just as she had last year. She wondered vaguely if by the end of her time at Hogwarts she would sound permanently British. Grabbing her suitcase, she joined her parents downstairs. The adventure was starting.

* * *

With a yawn, Ariana stepped out into Heathrow airport. In her time, it was 4am. She had to get on British time fast, though; September 2nd they started classes.

"Happy Birthday, sweetheart," her father said.

"We love you," her mother added.

"I love you guys too."

"So, where's this place we're looking for?" her father asked. "Diagon Alley?"

"Yeah, hang on, someone from Hogwarts sent me the address of the closest Muggle shop."

Handing it to her parents, she started walking towards baggage claim. She hoped the TSA hadn't inspected her bag; they would have found some odd things in there. Grabbing the smaller bag that just had some Muggle clothes in it, Ariana sat down on top of it. This was the second time she had flown into this airport now, and the third time she'd been here. She was sure that after seven years she'd be accustomed to it.

When they had all their bags, they went out and hailed a taxi, taking it to the address Ariana had been given. They stepped out, and Ariana pointed the Leaky Cauldron out to her parents (as Muggles, they couldn't see it otherwise). It was about 11am. They walked in, and Ariana was surprised at what greeted her; Ginny Weasley and her mother were walking towards the entrance to Diagon Alley.

"Ginny!"

The girl whipped around. "Ariana?!"

"Hi!" She ran up to her friend and hugged her.

Ginny hugged her back. "Hi to you too. How's your summer been?"

Ariana snorted. "Incredibly boring. Nobody wants to make owls fly all the way to America. I've been living full Muggle. How about you?"

"Oh, well, I guess you don't know-Dad won a bunch of gold from the Daily Prophet, we all took a trip to Egypt to visit Bill!"

"Wow! That's so cool," Ariana said.

Mrs. Weasley entered the conversation. "Hello, dear."

"Oh, hello mam." Ariana looked down at her feet. She still felt awkward around Ginny's parents after what had happened last year; she rather blamed herself.

Mrs. Weasley smiled brightly. "Are those your parents?" she asked, gesturing to them. They were right behind Ariana now.

"Yes."

"Hello." Mrs. Weasley shook hands with each of them. "You might want to avoid my husband, he'll bombard you with questions. Fascinated with Muggles, he is."

"Well, I'm sure we'll meet him," Ariana's mother said with a smile. "We're staying here tonight."

"Oh, how lovely! We are as well, and so are Harry and Hermione!"

"Harry and Hermione..." her father frowned. "You've mentioned them, right?"

"Yes, I have." She was still annoyed that her parents refused to admit to knowing who Harry Potter was. That would be proof they knew about the wizarding world, and most likely her birth parents, and she was sure they did.

"Anyway, I imagine we've all got some shopping to do," Mrs. Weasley said. "Why don't you come with us?"

"Oh, thanks!" Ariana said with a smile.

They left the Leaky Cauldron and headed into Diagon Alley.


	2. Back to Hogwarts

That night, Ariana sat down with the Weasleys, Harry, Hermione, and her parents to eat dinner. Mr. Weasley was eagerly asking her parents all sorts of questions. "And your Muggle money works differently in America than it does in Britain, yes?"

"Yes," her father said, starting to look a little bit annoyed.

Ariana met Ginny's eye and raised an eyebrow, and Ginny just shook her head and snorted. On Ginny's other side sat Hermione, who was smiling bemusedly at Mr. Weasley's eager questions. Next to her was Harry, and on his other side a very annoyed Ron. He was not pleased about Hermione's cat, claiming it had attacked his rat, Scabbers.

"So, American girl," said Fred. "You hear about Sirius Black?"

Ariana frowned. "No. Who's that?"

"Fred, is this necessary?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Well," said George, "Ought to know, hasn't she? Could be in danger otherwise."

"Danger?"

"Sirius Black is a convicted murderer," said Mr. Weasley. "He escaped from the wizard prison, Azkaban, recently. But everyone will be perfectly safe at Hogwarts," he quickly assured her parents, "They have security measures in place. And there's no reason to assume he would go there anyway."

"I thought nobody could escape from wizard prison," Ariana said.

"He's the first who ever has," said Ron. "Right scary, isn't it?"

"Ron!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed.

"As Head Boy, I'll help to make sure that everyone is safe," Percy said, and Ron and Ginny both rolled their eyes.

"Right, thanks," Ariana said.

"Really, everyone is safe," Hermione said. "Nothing gets inside the Hogwarts grounds without permission."

Harry gave a cough that sounded awfully like the words "Lord Voldemort on the back of a teacher's head."

"Anyway," said Mrs. Weasley with a smile. "Onto more pleasant discussions..."

* * *

The next day, Ariana arrived with her parents to the train station at 10:30; the others weren't there yet.

"So, still not coming on the platform with me?" she asked.

"It's like we told you, dear. We made a promise to stay out of it."

"So you did know something, then. About my being a witch."

"Well, after you got the letter, we did. The headmaster gave us an explanation and made us promise to stay out of it and say nothing. So we promised."

"And how do you know Harry's name?"

"What?"

"You reacted when I said his name at the end of last year. You know who he is."

"I don't know what you're talking about, dear. Now, be good. We love you."

"I love you too."

Unsatisfied with their answers, she stepped onto Platform Nine and Three Quarters.

* * *

Later, she sat with Ginny, Colin, and a couple of others in their year, plus Neville, in a compartment. They were chatting about this and that random thing when all of a sudden the train stopped.

"No way we're there yet," Ginny said.

Ariana frowned. Before she knew it, the lights were out. A couple of people screamed, but she held her tongue.

"I'm going to find Harry, Ron, and Hermione," Ginny said. "Come with?"

Nodding and then realizing Ginny couldn't see that, she said, "Yeah." She started to follow Ginny down the train.

"I'm coming too," Neville said.

When they reached the compartment the others were in, there was a great deal of tripping and falling. All of a sudden, there was another voice. "Stay where you are." A man was holding out a handful of fire. Then the door slid open.

A terrible creature entered the compartment. A great chill filled Ariana, and she had the idea that she would never be happy again. The creature looked around at them. Harry suddenly collapsed, falling to the floor. The man stepped over him and pulled out his wand. "None of us is hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks," he said to the creature. "Go." It did not move, so he said something under his breath and something silvery shot at it. It left. Ginny was shaking beside her, and she still felt afraid.

"Harry!" Hermione said. "Harry! Are you all right?" Ron was slapping his face. They helped him back into his seat.

"Are you okay?" Ron asked.

"Yeah," Harry said. "What happened? Where's that-that thing? Who screamed?"

 _Screamed?_ thought Ariana.  _Nobody screamed._

"No one screamed," Ron confirmed.

"But I heard screaming-"

The man was breaking up a piece of chocolate, and Ariana frowned. Was this the time for a snack? "Here," the man said to Harry, handing him a piece. "Eat it. It'll help."

Harry didn't eat it. "What was that thing?" he asked.

"A dementor," replied the man. "One of the dementors of Azkaban." He handed everyone else a piece of chocolate, and Ariana took hers with a tiny bit of hesitation. Who was this man? "Eat," he said again. "It'll help. I need to speak to the driver, excuse me..."

The others started to explain to Harry what had happened, and Ariana went over to Ginny, who was crying. Whatever had just happened had scared her, and she had the bad feeling that it would not be the last time something scary happened this year.

The man returned, looked around, and said, "I haven't poisoned that chocolate, you know..."

Ariana took a small bite and felt a bit less afraid.

The man spoke again, but he was talking to Harry, and Ariana tuned him out. When they finally arrived at Hogwarts, they walked over to a row of carriages and got in them, heading to the Great Hall. For some reason, Harry and Hermione went over to McGonagall; Ariana followed the others over to the Gryffindor table and sat down for the sorting ceremony. As it turned out, the man who had been on the train was Professor Lupin, their new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Ariana felt bad for not trusting him.

After the feast, they went up to bed. It had been a long day. But, thought Ariana as she went to bed, she was at Hogwarts again, ready for another incredible year of magic.


	3. First Day Back

"So," said Ginny as they walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast. "Do you think we'll have Flying today?"

"Don't know," Ariana replied. "It would be nice. I like flying. I kind of hope we have Defense Against the Dark Arts; Professor Lupin seems to really know what he's doing, unlike Lockhart."

"You think Lockhart was bad? The professor the year before last was literally Voldemort."

"Yeah, I heard about that. But he still taught them stuff, didn't he?"

"Huh."

As they walked, they saw Luna Lovegood, a Ravenclaw girl in their year, walking down a corridor and a couple of other students walking by her.

"Look at Loony Lovegood," one said with a chuckle.

"Hey, don't call her that!" Ariana and Ginny said, almost in unison.

Snorting, the students walked away.

"Thanks," Luna said, "But really I don't mind."

"They shouldn't call you that," Ginny said.

"Yes, well. They'll do as they please. Nice seeing you." She walked off down the corridor.

Ariana and Ginny continued down to the Great Hall, where they received their schedule. Their first class was Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"What've you got, Ginny?" Hermione asked from across the table.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts. You?"

"Divination."

"And about a million other things," said Ron. "It looks like she's got classes at the same time!"

"Let it go, Ron," Hermione said, rolling her eyes.

After breakfast, Ariana and Ginny headed to their first class.

* * *

"Good morning, class," said Professor Lupin with a smile. "Please take your seats. Now, I am going to inform you now that this year I will be focusing more on dark creatures and less on spells from other wizards. I say this now so that you won't be disappointed later. With that said, let us begin with Chapter 1 of our textbooks."

He was a good teacher; he really knew what he was talking about, and he made it interesting, too. Ariana didn't think she'd been this engaged with any class that wasn't flying. She was slightly concerned when he asked her and Ginny to stay after class.

"What is it, Professor?" she asked.

"Relax, you're not in trouble," he said, smiling a little. "I just noticed you were in the train compartment with me when the dementor came yesterday; I wanted to make sure you were alright."

"We're fine," Ginny said, though she had gone pale at the mention of the creature.

"Yeah, everything's okay," Ariana said, and Professor Lupin frowned.

"American. You must be Ms. Clark, then." He looked at Ginny. "And you're Ginny Weasley, yes?"

"Yes."

"Your brother is Head Boy."

Ginny sighed. "Unfortunately, yeah. I think it's a disgrace to the family name."

Lupin chuckled. "A good friend of mine was Head Boy in my year. I think he might have been disgraced by it. Anyway, glad you're both alright." He looked at Ariana again, frowning.

"Professor?" she asked. "Is there something wrong with me?"

"I'm sorry." He shook his head. "You just look sort of familiar. You both are free to go."

* * *

"Why do I keep getting strange looks?" Ariana asked Ginny at lunch. "I made Snape angry enough to give us detention last year, and now Lupin says I look familiar."

"If I might interrupt," said Hermione from nearby, "Lupin and Snape are the same age; they went to Hogwarts in the same year."

"How do you know that?" Ariana asked.

"I might have looked up a list of old Hogwarts prefects. They were both prefects in their year."

"Okay," said Ginny.

"Anyway, the point is, they might have known someone in their year. Someone that Ariana reminds them of."

"Alright, makes sense." Ariana frowned. "Why were you looking up that list, anyway?"

"Because Harry said that his father was Head Boy, but that didn't make any sense because he wasn't a prefect-Professor Lupin was. And yet, he was Head Boy. Strange, isn't it?"

"Yeah," said Ginny, exchanging a look with Ariana.

Hermione walked off.

"Lupin said-"

"That a good friend of his-"

"Was Head Boy," Ginny finished.

"Which means that Lupin was friends with Harry's father."

"Wow."

"Do you think we should tell him?"

Ginny shook her head. "No, I don't think so. If Lupin wants him to know, he'll tell him."

"I suppose," said Ariana. But she couldn't help but think that Harry definitely would want to know, and it seemed wrong not to tell him.

* * *

"Why do we have Potions?" Ariana asked with a groan.

"Because it's an important subject to learn," Ginny replied.

"But Professor Snape hates me."

"Yeah, not much to be done about that. But hey. It's not your fault, just someone who might be your parent and also knew Professor Lupin."

"You don't suppose it would work to ask him, do you?"

"That's not a good idea," Ginny said. "You don't poke the bear."

"Valid point."

"But at the feast, he kept shooting Lupin dirty looks. So if it's someone Snape hated, it's probably fair to say it's someone Lupin liked."

"And clearly I look a lot like them, for the hatred from Snape to be that strong."

"I mean, he doesn't really like anyone."

"Also fair."

They walked into class and sat down, Snape shooting Ariana more nasty looks all throughout class. It was really getting annoying at this point.


	4. Halloween

The first month at Hogwarts went by in a blur. She hung out with Ginny, and a fair bit with Luna, too. Hermione had become too busy with her load of schoolwork to speak to anyone. Professor Snape kept giving her dirty looks, and Professor Lupin kept giving her strange looks. Then one day, at the beginning of October, his look had gone from strange to... well, she couldn't entirely describe it. Almost horrified. He asked to see her after class.

"Did you find out who I look like, then?"

"There was never any question who you looked like, Ariana, I had just thought it to be coincidence. When were you born?"

"August 31, 1981."

"And who are your parents?"

She shook her head. "I have no idea. They died sometime in October."

He went very pale. "No idea?"

"No. Do you have a guess? Because I've been trying to figure it out since I came here last year. I keep getting dirty looks from Professor Snape-"

"Yes, I imagine you would. So, your parents died in October of 1981?" His voice had gone quiet.

"Yeah. The same month as Harry's parents. You knew them, didn't you? At least his father."

Professor Lupin looked caught off guard. "How would you know that?"

"You said your friend was Head Boy, and Harry said his father was."

"Right... you haven't said anything to Harry, have you?"

"No."

"Good."

"But, professor..." She tried to think of a way to voice the question that was burning in her mind. "Do you think you know who my parents were?"

"No, Ariana." He took a deep breath. "I am fairly certain I know who your parents were."

"Who?"

He shook his head. "It's not my place to say. If it's a secret, it's a secret for a reason."

"They're my parents."

He did not reply, but Ariana felt her mind racing. He had known Harry's parents, and he had known hers, and she did look like Harry's mother... No, she was being ridiculous again. Harry didn't have a sister, there had been no other child in that house that night. Yet all the evidence seemed to suggest it. She shouldn't say anything.

"Well, professor. If that's all, I'll be going."

"Yes." His face was now nearly as white as snow. "That's all."

* * *

By the time Halloween rolled around, Ariana really thought there was credibility to the theory that she could somehow be Harry Potter's sister. The idea was insane, she knew, and maybe borne of desperation, but there  _was_ evidence. The only problem was, who could she tell? Everyone would think she was crazy. Even Ginny. Then she thought about how Ginny had told her last year when she was opening the Chamber of Secrets. She had trusted Ariana with something very important; surely Ariana could trust her?

"Hey, Ginny," she said one evening, trying to sound casual.

"Yeah?"

"I was just thinking, about something weird."

"Hmm?"

"Last year Harry showed me some pictures of his parents."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. The odd thing was, I looked kind of like his mother."

"That is odd."

"Yeah... And Lupin was friends with his father, and recognized me."

"Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?"

"I don't know. Do you think it's possible?"

"That you're secretly Harry's sister? I mean, I guess anything is possible. Wouldn't exactly say it's likely."

Ariana nodded. "Right. Of course. Forget I said anything."

* * *

But that night at the Halloween feast, Ariana found herself sitting right next to Harry, and all through the meal could not drive the possibility from her mind. Afterwards, they went back up to their dormitory, and only then did Ariana forget about her musings. For there was the Fat Lady's portrait... but the Fat Lady was not present. And the portrait was slashed open.

What followed was complete chaos as the teachers attempted to search for the Fat Lady. Ariana felt her heart racing. Who would have done such a thing? Who would have slashed her open like that?

When they did find her, what she said did not make things any better. Sirius Black! Sirius Black had tried to get into their dormitory. A dangerous, escaped murderer. And he had been right here, in their castle.

Everyone slept in the Great Hall that night. Ariana was next to Ginny, and whispered quietly, "Why would Sirius Black try to get into the castle? Your father said he wouldn't."

"I have a theory," Ginny whispered back. "And it's not a good one."

"What?" Any theory would be better than the idea that a murderer had just come to a school full of children on a whim.

"Sirius Black was supposed to be a follower of... You-Know-Who."

"Oh."

"He might be here, well..."

"To get revenge on Harry?"

"That's the theory," Ginny said. "Like I said, it's not a good one."

"But don't you think someone from the Ministry would have said something if they knew that Black was going to head towards Hogwarts?"

"Not sure," Ginny replied. "Who knows why the Ministry does anything? Fudge is an incompetent-" She cut herself off when Percy walked by their sleeping bags on his patrol. "The point is, that might be the truth or it might not; we really have no way of knowing."

"Well, great," said Ariana. "So we have no way of knowing whether or not he's coming back?"

"That's the gist of it."

Ginny went to sleep a few minutes later, but Ariana tossed and turned a little bit longer. If, hypothetically, she was related to Harry, and Black was after him... would he be after her, too? She shook her head; as Ginny had said, it was a ridiculous thought anyway.


	5. Fear and Suspicion

The days following the Halloween attack went mostly back to normal, though Professor Snape did take over Professor Lupin's class when he was ill, which seemed odd. He gave Ariana glares as usual, and was much meaner than Professor Lupin. She resisted the urge to ask him anything about her parents. As Ginny had said, don't poke the bear.

When they got back to the common room one day, Ron was grumbling about Professor Snape assigning them homework.

"Does seem unfair," Ariana said. "It's not as though it's his class."

"See, Hermione?" said Ron.

Hermione just rolled her eyes from behind her mountain of books.

Harry smiled at them, and Ariana smiled back almost more awkwardly than Ginny. She still suspected, at least a little bit, that she might be his sister. It had been awkward being around him since. Even thought she was probably wrong.  _Definitely_ wrong. She also felt wrong about hiding from him that Professor Lupin had been friends with his father; she thought he deserved to know. But she couldn't disobey a teacher.

* * *

When the first Quidditch match of the season rolled around, Ariana went with Ginny to the stands, determined to finally understand this sport properly. She watched with excitement as the match went on, but then...

Harry was falling, falling all the way to the ground. She wanted to do something, but there was nothing she could do. He was surely going to die. Then Dumbledore slowed his fall. His broom went off somewhere on the grounds; when Ariana could rip her eyes away from Harry, she saw that the Hufflepuff Seeker had caught the Snitch. There was a great deal of chaos and commotion, in which Diggory tried to call for a rematch, but it was agreed that he had caught it fairly. The reason Harry had fallen was because of a dementor, and Dumbledore grew very angry at it. All this happened in a blur of images and noises for Ariana; all she could think about was how for a second, she had thought Harry was going to die. The boy she was becoming increasingly sure was her brother. She had to find out. She couldn't stand not knowing anymore. Even if she was wrong, even if she wasn't his sister, if her parents had been some other contemporaries of Lupin and Snape and coincidentally died the same month, at least then she could know.

The day after the match, she went to see Professor Lupin in his office.

"Ms. Clark," he said, with a nod of his head.

"Tell me," she said by way of reply, ignoring his frown. "I'm sorry for being rude, Professor, but if you know who my parents are then please, tell me. I think I have a right to know."

"Ariana-"

"Professor, if you didn't know who your parents were, not even so much as a name to go on, what would you say to the person who was sure that they knew?"

"I would insist that they tell me," he said with a sigh.

"Exactly."

"But I'm not sure enough. I said I was certain, but that was a lie. I am sure, in that I don't see any other possibility. But what I think isn't really a possibility either."

"Enough with the wordplay, Professor. Do you think I might be related to Harry Potter?"

He didn't answer for a long moment. "Do you?"

"I'm starting to. Just a bit. I look like his mother, don't I?"

He was silent for a while again. "Yes. You look like Lily. I won't deny that. But it's still completely unreasonable for you to be related to him. Impossible."

"I know." She sighed. "But it's the closest thing I have to a real theory."

"I don't know anything more than you do, Ariana. I really don't. I didn't want to tell you my theory because it's both completely insane, and, if true, no doubt a very closely guarded secret."

"A secret of whose? Someone would have to know. Someone sent me to America. Isn't it odd? Why  _would_ they send a British child all the way to America if not to keep their identity completely secret?"

"That's definitely a fair point. It's just... what you're saying sounds a bit like a conspiracy theory."

"Well. You know, America. We're full of conspiracy theories. That isn't the point. The point is that there is a very real possibility that Harry's parents  _were also mine._ And you were friends with his father, so if anyone could give the theory credibility, it would be you."

"Actually," said Lupin with a sigh, "The only two people who could give that theory credibility have both been dead for twelve years."

"Professor, if, hypothetically, this were true. Who would know? Who would they trust enough to tell they had a second child?"

He looked angry, all of a sudden. "Their Secret-Keeper, most likely."

"What? What's a Secret-Keeper?"

So he explained to her about the charm, about the Potters' hiding, about Sirius Black.

"You're telling me that the man who escaped from prison is the same man that condemned Harry's parents to death?"

"That's right."

"Okay, then  _he_ didn't send me to America. So who would have? Is there anybody else?"

"Just one person I can think of," he said.

"And who might that be?"

"Professor Dumbledore."

"Well, I'd like a meeting with him."


	6. The Confession

Ariana walked up the steps nervously. She was honestly surprised Dumbledore had even agreed to meet with her; sure, she had demanded it, but she didn't actually hold any power. The only reason she could see him agreeing to meet with her was if he actually was going to tell her who her parents were, and the thought of finally finding out set her mind buzzing.

When she entered the office, she saw Fawkes, and remembered the incident in the chamber last year. That had been terrifying, especially knowing that Ginny was in danger. But a part of her had been strangely exhilarated. The Gryffindor part, she supposed.

"Ms. Clark," Dumbledore said, and she jumped.

"Professor Dumbledore." She swallowed, not sure what to do.

"Please take a seat."

She did as he said. "Professor, I want to apologize for causing you trouble, I-"

He held up a hand to silence her. "It's alright, Ms. Clark. You wish to know who your family were. I quite understand."

"So you know, then?"

Sitting down at the seat across the desk from her, he nodded. "I do know who your parents are. And based on what Professor Lupin told me, it appears that you yourself figured it out."

She felt her head start spinning, and a nauseated feeling took over. "So it's true, then. I'm Harry Potter's sister."

He nodded. "Ariana Marian Potter, by birth." There was a faraway look in his eyes.

"Professor, what's wrong with my name?"

"Nothing," he replied. "I knew someone with the name Ariana, once." He blinked. "Regardless. I suppose you are owed the full story of who you are. It was kept secret, to protect you, and hopefully once I tell you you will understand why."

"Alright."

"Thirteen years ago, Lily Potter found out she was pregnant. At this time, she had a son less than six months old, and she, her husband, and their child were all in hiding."

"With the charm. The one Sirius Black was supposed to protect them with."

He narrowed his eyes. "How do you know that?"

"Professor Lupin told me."

"Well I'll admit, that is surprising. Now. When Lily found out she was pregnant, she immediately made the choice not to tell anybody besides James. They had friends visiting, of course, but she was a rather gifted witch, and managed to hide her pregnancy. On August 31, 1981, when she gave birth, she decided that at this point she could no longer keep you hidden, and that she had to tell somebody. So she told me. Even Sirius Black never knew you existed, Ariana. But the Death Eaters found out, too. I believe that the fact of your existence was not protected by the Fidelius Charm, since it was cast before you were born, but I'm not entirely sure how they found out. Perhaps somehow Lily's charm did not work on Sirius at one point, and he might have told. The key thing was that Lily and James were in hiding because they knew that Voldemort was after Harry. But he wasn't after you. So they asked me to send you away, to safety. I sent you as far away as I could think to. I sent you all the way to America. And I put you in the Muggle adoption system."

"So my parents-my adoptive parents, I mean-they really didn't know?"

"They did. That isn't the end of the story. Your name stayed Ariana, clearly. That would be a strange coincidence. It was early October when I sent you to America and told them your parents had died. After the death of Lily and James, the Death Eaters began looking for you, and it became imperative that they never find you. That meant I needed to protect you somehow. So I took you out of the system. Decided to find a wizarding family who would keep you safe, no questions asked. Instead I found the Clarks, who were both Muggles, but one of whom was the daughter of a Squib and knew about the wizarding world. So I gave you to them, falsified adoption records, and made them promise to keep you safe for the rest of your life. It seemed perfect; they knew the truth, meaning they would keep you safe because they understood the threat, but they were still Muggles, meaning that you would be essentially undetectable with them. The Death Eaters kept looking for you, but they never found you. And that is why your identity can never be revealed. If they find out that you exist, then you will be in as much danger as Harry."

"But Voldemort is defeated, isn't he? Some weird half-alive thing?" She decided not to voice the first thought that had come to mind; her parents had been lying to her for her entire life.

"He is, yes. But there are forces at play you do not understand. Harry is in great danger, and you will put yourself in danger by revealing your secret."

"But Harry is my brother. I don't want him to be in danger."

"There is nothing you nor I can do about that."

"I can tell him he has a sister!"

Dumbledore shook his head. "Clearly you did not understand the point of that story. This must remain a secret."

"But Harry can keep the secret too." And so could Ginny. Surely she could tell her? There were no secrets between them.

"Ms. Clark, if you reveal this to  _anyone,_ it could end very badly. And Harry-he would likely be pleased to know he has a sister. But he would start acting... well, like an older brother. It's almost a force of habit, he wouldn't be able to help it. And somebody would find out."

"Are you an older brother, Professor? You sounded like you were speaking from experience."

"I am, actually," he said. "I have a younger brother. Aberforth."

"Oh."

"Anyway. Do we have an agreement? You will not tell anyone this secret, not even Harry Potter or Ginny Weasley?"

"How did you-"

"She's your best friend."

"Yes."

"She can't know either."

"I can't really be in  _that_ much danger, can I?"

"I would prefer that you did not take that risk. Lord Voldemort may indeed someday return, Ms. Clark. And if he does, you don't want him to know your last name is Potter."

Sighing, Ariana nodded. She supposed she understood the reasoning behind not telling. And it probably would make Harry start acting annoying to her, not necessarily something she wanted. Other than that, it really didn't matter that much. She was still Ariana Clark now, still who she was. They didn't need to know who her birth parents were. As she left Dumbledore's office, she tried to convince herself of that fact.


	7. Another Christmas

The next day, Professor Lupin asked to see her after class. She went to the front of the room, nervous. She wasn't allowed to tell anyone, that was the rule. To her great relief, he said, "Dumbledore told me."

She let out the breath she had been holding. "Good, because I wasn't sure how I was going to keep it a secret from you."

"Well, don't worry, I have also been sworn to secrecy."

"I hate having to keep it a secret."

He shrugged. "It's for your safety." He looked at her for a moment. "So. You're Lily and James's daughter."

"Yes."

"And Ariana, that's actually the name they gave you."

"Apparently."

"And your middle name-Marian. After Lily's mother."

"Really?"

He nodded. "Marian Evans. She died before Lily and James got married. Her father too."

Ariana frowned. Those were her grandparents. "That's kind of sad. What about my other grandparents?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Potter both died within days of each other. After the wedding. Before Harry was born."

"Oh. Did they not want to carry on their names?"

Professor Lupin chuckled slightly. "They were both lovely people, but terrible names. Fleamont and Euphemia."

Ariana wrinkled her nose. "Those are not particularly good names."

"No."

"So, Harry is never allowed to know I'm his sister, and is he also not allowed to know that you and our father were best friends?"

He sighed. "I would rather he didn't. If it were avoidable, I would rather you didn't. I'd prefer if you didn't ask any questions." Looking at him, Ariana realized he looked very sad.

"Alright," she said. "No more questions."

He smiled slightly. "Thank you."

* * *

The rest of November went by relatively quickly, classes and homework all happening as normal. The only real difference was that she was now as awkward around Harry as Ginny was, albeit for entirely different reasons. Hufflepuff lost their Quidditch match against Ravenclaw, which meant that Gryffindor still had a chance to win the Quidditch Cup. December went by relatively quickly too, until the last weekend before Christmas. Ariana knew that Harry would stay for Christmas; he always did. Which meant she had the choice of either taking a train into London, flying all the way to America, and then flying back only to take another train, or dealing with being at school with Harry and very few other people, and trying not to think too hard about it. Ultimately, she decided to stay at Hogwarts, if only because it would be just as awkward dealing with her parents and confronting them about lying to her for her entire life.

That weekend was another Hogsmeade trip, leaving the school emptied out to just the first and second years again. Even Harry was nowhere to be found, which was odd. Maybe he was studying in the library, though that wasn't really a very Harry thing to do. She and Ginny played Exploding Snap for a while. Later that day, everybody came back from Hogsmeade, and Harry turned up again. Ariana suspected he had snuck out to Hogsmeade. He looked upset about something. More than upset; he looked as though somebody had died.

"Hermione," she said, when everyone else was out of earshot. "What's wrong with Harry?"

Hermione pursed her lips. "Nothing."

"Hermione, I'm not an idiot. If it's not my business then fine, say so, but it isn't nothing."

She sighed. "I don't think it's anybody's place except Harry's to tell you why."

Ariana nodded and walked away. She wanted to know why Harry was so upset, but she still felt awkward talking to him.

A few days later, Ginny and everyone else in Gryffindor house left, except for Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

* * *

Harry still looked upset as the holidays started, and even after the enormous Christmas feast. Finally, when they ended up alone in the common room while Hermione was in the library and Ron was in the Owlery sending a letter to his family, she said, "Harry?"

He looked up. "Hmm?"

"If you don't mind me asking, why are you so upset?"

He shrugged. "No reason."

"Alright."

Then he said, "What would you think if you found out everybody you knew was keeping some very important information from you?"

She actually laughed, and he looked offended. "I'm sorry. It's just, that is exactly what did happen to me. I found out that my adoptive parents knew who my birth parents were my entire life, and neither of them ever said a word."

Harry frowned. "That's not nice of them. Even my aunt and uncle, awful as they were, didn't lie to me about my parents' identities."

 _Same parents,_ she thought. She noticed that he didn't actually ask who her parents were, which was good, as she did not have a satisfactory answer. "Yeah. Well, I guess the key is, you have to believe that they thought they were doing the right thing by not telling you." She sighed. "I didn't go back for Christmas because I didn't know what to say to them. But I guess they thought they were doing it for the right reasons."

He frowned. "I found out something about my parents, too."

It was getting harder not to let anything slip. "Oh?"

"I found out that my father had a best friend."

_Oh._

"That his best friend was Sirius Black."

She nodded. "And he betrayed them."

Harry frowned. "How did you know that?"

Oops. Of course, there wasn't really a good reason for her to know, was there? Then again, it wasn't exactly sealed information, was it? She wasn't sure. "I overheard Professor Dumbledore talking about it with someone," she lied.

He frowned. "Who was he talking with?"

"I don't remember." She sighed. "I'm sorry that Sirius Black betrayed your parents," she said, realizing how close she had come to saying  _our parents._

"I just can't believe that their best friend would do that," he said. "That would be like Ron selling me and my family out."

"But Ron would never do that," she said.

He frowned. "Yeah, that's true. But my dad probably thought the same thing about Black. And nobody told me. Not a single person bothered to think I would need to know the information."

"Well," she said. "Did knowing the information improve things?"

"No. It made them worse."

"So, that would be why they didn't tell you."

He shrugged. "I guess. Did finding out who your parents were make things worse?"

"Um..." She might as well be honest about this part. "Yeah."

"Who were they?"

She shrugged. "Nobody you'd know." That was a blatant and direct lie, and she hated it. But she didn't have much of a choice.

"Well, goodnight," he said, walking upstairs.

"Goodnight."


	8. The New Term

As the Christmas holidays came to an end, and Ginny returned, Ariana found it harder and harder not to say anything to her. She understood why she couldn't tell everybody, but Ginny was trustworthy. Still, she remembered Dumbledore's words, and she wasn't going to go against him. Classes resumed; Professor Lupin acted a little odd around her now. She wanted desperately to ask him so many questions about her parents, but he had looked so sad when mentioning them, she didn't want to make him that upset again. Slytherin beat Ravenclaw at Quidditch. Harry and Hermione were not speaking because Hermione had confiscated his Firebolt, but Harry did seem to be less upset over the whole Sirius Black thing. Ariana was still angry about it. She couldn't believe that her parents' best friend would betray them like that. She was lucky to have a best friend as good as Ginny, who would never do that to her.

One day, she came into the common room to find Hermione buried under a pile of books. Since she had stopped speaking with Harry and Ron, Hermione had started spending more time with their sisters (even if she only knew that in Ginny's case). "Hi, Hermione," she said.

Hermione looked up for a second. "Hi, Ariana." She looked back down at her books.

"How can you possibly have that much homework?" she asked. "Doesn't it drive you mad?"

"A bit, yeah. But it's all such valuable information I'm learning."

"Even Divination?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Maybe not that one."

Ariana chuckled. "Don't think I'll be taking that one."

"Probably a wise call."

"Hermione," she said slowly, a question she had long been considering coming to her mind.

"Hmm?"

"Do you know how a Fidelius charm works?"

She now looked Ariana right in the eyes. "Why?"

"Just... wondering. I heard there was no way to give the information except willingly, but surely there has to be some way, right? I mean-"

"Are you asking about Sirius Black?" Hermione asked.

"I didn't say-"

"I'm not stupid. And, no, there isn't really any way. I suppose somebody could be tricked into giving it, but Black did go on to murder thirteen people, including another one of their best friends. I don't think it's that unlikely that he did it."

"But that's terrible. To betray your best friend."

Hermione nodded. "It is terrible. And I hope they catch him."

"Me too," said Ariana with a sigh. "Well, talk to you later, Hermione."

"Mm-hmm," said Hermione, who was back to focusing on her work.

Ariana went upstairs.

* * *

Even after Harry got his Firebolt back, he didn't make up with Hermione. This seemed foolish to Ariana, but she said nothing. It was still too awkward talking to Harry.

The same day, though, something else happened that drove a further wedge between Hermione, Harry, and Ron.

"Scabbers is gone!" Ron exclaimed, looking quite distraught. "That stupid cat ate him!"

"Maybe it didn't," Ginny said, halfheartedly.

"Right, sure it didn't."

"I'm sorry about your rat," Ariana said.

He walked off.

"Well, that was something," said Ginny.

"Sure was."

They walked to Potions, and Ariana sighed. Time for more dirty looks. After class was over, though, she told Ginny to go on ahead. She had to find something out.

"Professor Snape," she said, walking to the front of the room.

He had his permanent scowl on his face. "Yes, Miss Clark?"

"Why do you keep giving me dirty looks in class?"

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," he replied.

"With all due respect, sir, yes you do." She was treading on thin ice here. He already hated her. "Is it because I look like Lily Potter, sir?"

Snape's look of distaste suddenly grew into one of horror. "How do you know that?"

"I've seen pictures of her, sir. I know we look similar. And I know you went to Hogwarts at the same time as her. You were both prefects in your year." She had looked up the list of old prefects herself; her mother had been one.

"You do bear a resemblance to her," he admitted. "But what I happen to dislike is your resemblance to her husband."

"Really? You think I look like him?"

"Somewhat. Funny, isn't it, that you look like both of them?"

"Yes. Funny. And that my parents were killed the same month. Strange coincidence." She remembered something Harry had said. "And you didn't get along with James Potter, did you?"

"Arrogant swine," Snape replied, and Ariana resisted the urge to scream at him. "And yes, a strange coincidence indeed." He knew. She could tell he knew.

"Well, I am not James Potter," she said. "Never even met him. So I would appreciate it if you stopped hating me because I look like someone."

"Who says I hate you?" he asked. "You're just another one of my students. Now leave, before I am inclined to give you detention."

Swallowing, she walked out of the class.

* * *

"What'd you stay after class for?" Ginny asked.

"I asked Professor Snape why he kept giving me dirty looks," she admitted.

Ginny's eyes widened. "And?"

"I did not get a satisfactory response." She couldn't tell Ginny she apparently looked like James Potter; she had already pointed out that she looked like Lily. Ginny was smart, she would put those pieces together in a heartbeat, and that would basically be telling her the secret.

Ginny shrugged. "Oh well. I mean, he hates all Gryffindors, so really you're not that different."

Ariana laughed. "Yeah, I guess." But she was very different from everybody else. She was the daughter of James and Lily Potter. She was the sister of Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived. She was a secret, a secret that could never be told, not to her best friend and not even to her brother.

And she hated it.


	9. The Quidditch Match

That weekend, there was another Quidditch match. She sat next to Ginny, but she had to admit to being distracted. She had to go to school with her brother, but could not tell him he was her brother. She had to avoid asking her parents' good friend for any information about them. She had to contend with the fact that one of her teachers was always going to hate her for factors beyond her control. And she had to somehow ignore the fact that an insane mass murderer had betrayed her parents, killed another of their good friends and many innocent people, and was now after her brother. The idea of playing sports honestly seemed a little frivolous, like they should be focusing all their energies on finding Sirius Black. She knew Quidditch was important both to her best friend and her brother, but it really didn't interest her all that much. She also knew that her father had been an avid Quidditch player, so perhaps she took after her mother in that respect. The whole thing seemed silly. Why was the Snitch worth so many points? It rendered most of the non-Seeker players practically useless to the game. She did love flying, though, the sheer joy of it. It had been a disappointment to learn that Flying was not offered after first year; it had been one subject she was rather good at. She was also decent at Charms, and, surprisingly, Potions, despite how much Snape hated her.

As she watched the match, Ginny looked on eagerly, clearly very into it. She was pretty sure that Ginny was going to go for a spot on the team as soon as one opened up-and since Oliver Wood was a seventh year, technically, Keeper would be open next year. But Ginny claimed to be more of a Chaser. Ariana wondered vaguely which of the positions she would be best suited for. Probably Seeker or Chaser; she wasn't particularly strong, to hit Bludgers, and she didn't like the idea of hovering by the goalposts for a long time; flying around was the fun part. But she never really intended to be a Quidditch player anyway; she would be happy to cheer Ginny (and Harry) on from the sidelines.

As she watched, something strange happened. A dementor seemed to be on the Quidditch pitch! Grabbing Ginny's arm and pointing, she became afraid. Would Harry fall off his broom again? Now that she knew for certain that he was her brother, she was even more concerned for his safety. People began whispering, but then Harry pulled out his wand, and he cast a spell, and... it wasn't a dementor. It was Malfoy and his stupid cronies trying to play a prank on Harry. As Professor McGonagall went up and chastised them, Ariana shook her head with a sigh. They really were awful, Malfoy and his gang. It was all Malfoy's fault that an innocent creature, Buckbeak the hippogriff, was in danger of being executed. Hermione had been working incredibly hard on Buckbeak's case, despite her immense courseload. Ariana had tried to help, but she really didn't understand most of the details of the case or any of the information Hermione was researching. She hoped they didn't execute the beautiful creature; if anything, Malfoy was the one who ought to be punished. What kind of idiot would deliberately provoke a creature in the exact way they had just been told not to by a teacher?

The Quidditch game continued. Harry caught the Snitch, beating Ravenclaw Seeker Cho Chang, and Gryffindor won. That meant that if they could beat Slytherin by enough, they could really win the Quidditch Cup. She hoped they would; she didn't want to imagine how Oliver Wood might react if they didn't.

* * *

"Congratulations, Harry," she said politely when he re-entered the Gryffindor common room.

He smiled. "Thanks, Ariana."

She still felt awkward being around him, but she had to try to stop that. He was a nice person, and they could be friends, even if only she could know that she was actually his sister. Better to know him as his friend than not to know him at all, of course. "Malfoy is an idiot," she added.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Tell me about it."

"What was that thing you did, the one that knocked them over?"

"It's called a Patronus Charm. It wards off dementors. Professor Lupin taught it to me."

"He's a very good teacher," Ariana said.

"Yeah, he is. And he was a friend of my dad's."

"Oh? Really?" Ariana feigned surprise, wondering how he had found out.

"Yeah, apparently he knew them while they were in school."

"That's cool."

"Yeah. And he knew Sirius Black, too. Well, he says he thought he did."

"Sirius Black is a terrible man," she said, not having to feign any anger.

"Yeah," said Harry, and he was frowning a little. "Why do you sound so angry about that?"

She shrugged. "It's just the idea of a person betraying their best friend like that. I can't stand it." She also couldn't stand keeping this secret from Harry; it felt like there was some sort of dam inside her waiting to burst.

"It's despicable," he said.

She nodded. "Well, anyway. You gave Gryffindor a chance to win the Quidditch Cup." She smiled.

He grinned. "I really hope we win."

"Me too, if only so that Oliver Wood doesn't actually explode."

Harry snorted. "Well, see you later."

"See you."

As he walked off, she sighed. That was her brother. And he didn't know, and he never could. Maybe she had been wrong about being able to be normal friends with him. Or with anyone, really. After all, as Ginny had made clear to her, friends don't keep secrets.


	10. Visitor In The Night

That night, Ariana went to bed with her mind swimming. More than anything else in the world, she wanted to tell Harry the truth. She wanted to tell him even more than she wanted to tell Ginny-with Ginny it was just the sense of wanting to let her best friend in on her secret. But with Harry, she wanted him to know, wanted him to be her brother. It was killing her, having to act like everything was alright around him when she knew that they were family. It was something else, too. She had her adoptive family in America, and she loved them; she definitely considered them her parents. But Harry had to live with his-no, their-awful aunt and uncle, who treated him terribly, who were in no way that mattered any sort of family. She was his family, and maybe if he knew that he could... what? Come live with her in America? She was being stupid. If Dumbledore had put Harry with the Dursleys, there must be some sort of reason for it. She had to accept that she didn't know everything that was going on. But goodness, that was hard to do.

She looked over at Ginny and sighed. If she could only know. She had been the first person to accept Ariana into this strange world, and she had told her about the diary, trusted her. It was so wrong of her to keep this secret from Ginny. She knew that. But Dumbledore's words echoed in her head. He was the greatest wizard of all time, surely, he knew what was best for her, what would keep her safe. Yet, for all he was... he was just a person, wasn't he? She rolled over, finally managing to shut her eyes...

...only to be woken a few hours later by a loud commotion.

* * *

Ariana went down to breakfast the next morning shivering. "That did not happen... that did not happen..."

"Oh, it definitely happened," said Ron, a few seats over. "Black slashed right through my bed curtains!"

"It's all my fault," said Neville miserably from across the table.

"No it's not, Neville," Hermione said reassuringly. "It's Sirius Black's fault. And nobody got hurt in the end, so, really it's no harm done."

"Oh, easy for you to say!" Ron yelled. "Nobody slashed your curtains!"

Hermione rolled her eyes.

Ariana looked over at Ginny. "You were right, he is coming for Harry."

Ginny nodded.

And he could be after Ariana, too... Dumbledore had said that as far as he knew, Sirius Black didn't know she existed, but that didn't exactly make her feel very confident. He very well might know about her, she very well might be in danger... and that was enough of a reason not to tell anybody her secret. He might know she existed, but there was no way he could know what she looked like. Except, of course, that she looked like her mother. That was a problem. But as evil as Black was, he didn't appear to be stupid. He wouldn't go after her on just a guess... would he? She was terrified, and she couldn't even tell anybody, because she'd then have to tell them who she was, and she couldn't do that. But there  _was_ one person who already knew.

* * *

Professor Lupin sighed. "I don't know, Ariana. I only know what Professor Dumbledore has told me, and that's only what he told you. But if Lily and James didn't want Sirius to know, I'd be willing to bet he didn't. They were smart people, your parents." His eyes got a faraway look in them.

She nodded. "Thank you, Professor."

He smiled. "Anytime. But you should know-even if Sirius is after you, you're safe at Hogwarts. And so is Harry. However he's getting into the castle, whatever he's doing, they'll figure it out. And the teachers are all trained to protect students."

She nodded. "I trust Dumbledore."

"As do I."

Feeling slightly less afraid, she walked out of the classroom.

* * *

The next morning, at breakfast, Neville got a Howler from his grandmother. People all over the Great Hall were laughing, which Ariana thought was just mean. He must feel awful about what he had done, there was no need to make him feel worse. "That isn't nice," she said.

"Expecting people to be nice?" asked Ginny. "What world have you been living in?"

They walked to class, but Ariana couldn't stop thinking: Maybe Black had failed this time, but would he fail again? Sure, he couldn't get into the dormitory again, Neville would never make the same mistake twice, but he could charge into the castle at any moment and attack them in class. He had killed  _thirteen people_ with a single spell, could he really stop a teacher? Especially if it was, say, Professor Binns, who was literally a ghost and couldn't harm him? She still trusted Dumbledore, but it didn't stop her from wondering if Black was sneaky enough to get around him-and worse, it was possible he had an accomplice in the school! If someone was helping him, then surely, they would be able to help him sneak around the teachers. Her first thought would be Snape, but if Black had been friends with her father and Lupin, then surely Snape must have hated him, even if he had also been a follower of Voldemort. That didn't leave a lot of likely options. Professor Lupin might seem the most likely, at least to an outside observer, but she trusted him. The way he talked about Black made it clear he hated him, and he had also clearly cared a lot about her parents, and would never help the man who betrayed them. But who did that leave? Or maybe nobody was helping Black, and he was just  _that good_ -not that that made her feel significantly better. She could be in danger, and her brother was definitely in danger, and she was more scared than she had ever been in her life.


	11. The Quidditch Cup

"Did you hear?" Ginny asked on Saturday. "Buckbeak's set to be executed."

"Oh no!" Ariana exclaimed. "That's awful."

"Yeah. There's going to be an appeal, at the school, but apparently Lucius Malfoy's on the warpath."

"I hate him."

Ginny snorted. "You hate him? He gave me an enchanted diary that left me mind-slave to Voldemort's teenage soul."

"I really hope he loses."

"Me too."

* * *

Two more months went by, and Ariana started to relax a bit. Nothing had happened since that night, Black must have been prevented from getting into the castle. Yet he hadn't been caught, that surely would have been big news... still, Ariana told herself, she and Harry were both safe. She stayed over the Easter holidays; she was still too nervous about facing her parents, about what she would say to them knowing that they had been lying to her all her life. If she had known that she was Harry's sister last year... well, who was she kidding, it wouldn't make much of a difference. It would have just been more secret-keeping. She hated secrets. She didn't talk to Harry often, but every time she did she had to be careful not to let anything slip, and it wasn't easy. Ginny had brought up the topic of her parentage a couple of times, and she had had to change the subject. Hermione had dropped out of Divination, saying that it was a ridiculous class that added unnecessarily to her workload. She had also punched Malfoy in the face, which Ariana thought was incredible. One day during the holidays, she walked down into the common room to see Harry and Ron working furiously on some Divination homework.

"Crazy, isn't it?" Ginny asked from one of the armchairs. "My brother, working?"

"Oh, shut up, Ginny," Ron snapped. "You'll see how hard it is when you're in third year."

"Oh yes, making up predictions must be utterly exhausting."

"It's harder than you'd think," said Harry. "Have to make sure you don't say you're going to die more than once."

"Unless you're Harry," said Ron, "Cause Trelawney can't stop predicting his death."

"What?" Ariana asked, suddenly concerned. The Divination professor thought Harry was going to die? Did that have anything to do with Sirius Black?

"Apparently she picks one student every year and claims they're going to die," Harry said. "She does seem especially fixated on me, though."

"And you're not worried?"

"Not particularly."

"Trelawney is an utter fraud," said Ron. "No idea why Dumbledore lets her teach here."

"No idea why he lets you go here," said Ginny.

Ariana chuckled, but stopped when Ron glared at her and Ginny.

* * *

A few days after the end of the holidays was the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin. The whole school was watching. Everyone had to know who was going to win the Cup. The entire Gryffindor team was on edge, but none more than Oliver Wood. He had been practically in a panic at breakfast. Ariana had grown more interested in Quidditch, especially since her brother was the star player, and this was the match to watch. She sat next to Ginny in the stands; Ron was next to Ginny, and Hermione next to Ron. Percy was six rows above them, evidently not wanting to sit with his brother and sister. Everyone watched as Gryffindor rose up in points; but, according to Ginny, Harry could not catch the Snitch unless Gryffindor was fifty points ahead, because they had to win by 200 points to get the Cup. After a while, Harry seemed to have seen the Snitch; he was moving towards it-but Gryffindor wasn't fifty points ahead yet! After Draco followed him, Ariana realized he had been doing a fakeout to keep Draco from catching the Snitch. Gryffindor eventually reached fifty points ahead, and then... they won! Harry caught the Snitch! Ariana cheered loudly with everyone, wanting to shout, "That's my brother!" but not being able to, of course. After the match, everyone went back to the common room and celebrated, and after a while Ariana slipped out to visit Professor Lupin.

"I don't know if I can do this anymore," she said. "Keep this secret."

"It is... it is for your own good," he replied.

"I know. But that doesn't help much."

"No, I don't imagine it does. Think of it this way, then. You might be keeping Harry safer, too."

"How?"

"If they find out about you, they will try to use you to get to him. And if he's anything like his parents, it'll work like a charm. So you're protecting him in addition to yourself."

She nodded. "Thank you, Professor."

As she went back to the festivities, she reminded herself of that.


	12. A Revelation

Ariana sat on the couch in the common room, reading over her Potions textbook. There were still four weeks until exams, but she really had to do well on this one, because Professor Snape already hated her.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting on another one of the couches, and she was avoiding saying anything to them. She didn't like talking to Harry anymore, it felt too awful keeping secrets from him. If she really was keeping them both safer by keeping this a secret, then she would do that. But she certainly wasn't going to like it.

"D'ya think that'll work on Malfoy?" Ron's voice drifted over.

"Probably not," said Harry.

"If Malfoy cared about the law, this appeal wouldn't be necessary," Hermione said.

"Don't worry," said Ron. "We'll find a way to save Buckbeak."

"Do you want help with that?" Ariana asked, before she could stop herself.

They all looked over at her.

"Any help would be appreciated," said Hermione. "Do you know anything about the laws governing magical creatures?"

"Um... I've read  _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ ," Ariana said.

"Well, if you could pick up a book and read over the laws, that would be incredibly helpful."

"Sure." She picked one up.

"Why are you helping?" Ron asked.

"Buckbeak did nothing wrong. I love animals, and I hate people who are cruel to them. Also, Lucius Malfoy is a terrible person and I really want to see him brought down."

"Well, that's a good reason if there ever was one," said Ron. "After what he pulled on Ginny last year..."

"Yeah."

She read through the book. "Since Hagrid told them exactly what to do and Malfoy didn't do it, isn't he the one at fault?"

"Course he is," said Harry. "But the Ministry's not going to listen to that."

"I thought the government was supposed to be fair," Ariana said with a sigh.

Hermione snorted. "Who told you that?"

"My parents. They work for the American government."

"Well, not saying anything about them, but the government is rarely trustworthy."

"Oh, they're a couple of liars," Ariana snorted. "I suppose it makes sense. If they can lie to their daughter for twelve years, they can probably deceive the public."

"What did they lie to you about?"

"Who my parents were. Turns out, they knew all along."

"Wait, you found out who your parents were?" Ron asked.

"Yeah." It registered with her vaguely that Harry had known for months, but Ron and Hermione did not.

"Who are they?" Hermione asked.

She sighed. She hated the lying, why had she put herself in another scenario where she would have to? "Nobody you'd have heard of. Just a regular old wizard family. Died when their house burnt down, could have been because of the war, could not have been. But the thing is, my parents knew. And not telling me, that was just wrong of them. It's what adults do. They keep secrets from children because they think we can't handle the truth. But I hate it."

"You hate it now," said Hermione. "But once you're an adult, you'll probably find yourself keeping secrets too. That's kind of how it goes."

"Maybe a fancy lie could save Buckbeak."

"Oh? How so?"

* * *

"So," said Ginny. "Can you believe our second year is nearly over?"

"Really having a hard time processing it, actually." When this year ended, she had to go home. No more avoiding. She had to confront her parents about why they had lied to her for her entire life, about why they had kept her identity from her, kept from her the fact that she had a brother. She dreaded it, because she knew it wasn't going to end well. Of course, she couldn't exactly voice that thought to Ginny.

"Thank goodness this year is less eventful than last year," Ginny said.

Ariana snorted. "Tell me about it. May we never have another year as chaotic as last year again."

"Why do I have the feeling it's never going to be peaceful like this again while we're at Hogwarts?"

"Because crazy things are happening all around us. All the time."

"Yeah. Me getting possessed by a diary, you finding out who your parents are-"

Ariana nearly jumped out of her seat. "How did you-"

"Hermione mentioned it in conversation. Assumed I would already know. Why didn't I, Ariana?"

She swallowed; what answer could she possibly give? "Honestly, it just kind of slipped my mind. I only told Ron and Hermione because it came up."

"And Harry."

"What?"

"Ron and Hermione, and Harry."

"Oh. Well, Harry already knew. He found me right after I found out, and I kind of just ended up telling him."

"So you told Harry first? About how your parents had been keeping your identity secret from you your entire life?"

"It was a coincidence, he was mad that people had kept the Sirius Black stuff secret from him."

"What Sirius Black stuff?"

Ariana recounted the tale to Ginny; part of her thought that maybe Harry should have the right to tell people the story or not, but then, they were her parents too, so shouldn't she get that right as well?

"Oh my god," said Ginny. "That's terrible."

"I know."

"I can't believe Sirius Black would betray your parents like that."

"Yeah, it's awful."

"Ha! Caught you."

Ariana gasped. "Ginny..."

"I figured it out. It's the only reason you wouldn't have told me. You told Harry first because he's your brother!"

"I didn't tell him who they were. Just about the secret. It just came up."

"So you told him the same story you told Ron and Hermione?"

"Pretty much."

"It's still the only reason you wouldn't have told me. Someone told you not to."

She swallowed. "Dumbledore."

"Dumbledore himself?"

"He was the one who told me, because I kept asking Professor Lupin. He didn't know either. It's a closely guarded secret, and I wasn't supposed to tell  _anybody_."

"Well, you didn't tell me, did you?"

"I guess not."

"Right. So, you're fine. Now. How on earth are you Harry Potter's sister?"

As she recounted the tale, Ariana felt a huge weight lift off her chest. She didn't have to keep secrets from Ginny anymore. "I'm sorry," she said at the end. "I know we're supposed to be honest with each other, and you told me about the Chamber..."

"Look, I was mad when Hermione first told me," said Ginny. "But if Dumbledore told you not to tell anybody, what were you supposed to do?"

"Thank you for understanding."

"Hey, what are friends for?"


End file.
